The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday requested an international arrest warrant for the military ruler of Myanmar for the persecution of Rohingya.
The office of prosecutor Karim Khan said that Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the military government that took control of the country in a coup in 2021, is responsible for crimes against humanity regarding the treatment of the Rohingya minority.
following the announcement, Human Rights Watch said it is “a major step towards justice for the country’s Rohingya population”.
In a 2018 report, Amnesty identified 13 individuals against whom the organization had gathered extensive, credible evidence of direct or command responsibility for crimes against humanity. Min Aung Hlaing was at the top of this list.
“Since 14 November 2019, we have been investigating alleged crimes committed during the 2016 and 2017 waves of violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar, and the subsequent exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh,” Khan said in a video statement.
“My Office alleges that these crimes were committed between 25 August 2017 and 31 December 2017 by the armed forces of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians.”
It is now for the judges of the International Criminal Court to determine whether this application meets the necessary standard for issuing an arrest warrant.
“Though the arrest warrant sought in this case deals with the 2017 crisis, Rohingya people are still being persecuted and driven into Bangladesh from Myanmar to this day. This year marked the worst year of violence against the community since 2017, as Rohingya men, women and children died in bombings or drowned while being trapped in the middle of an armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the rebel Arakan Army,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International.
In 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the UN, advanced a separate case against Myanmar, brought by Gambia, that investigates responsibility for genocide against the Rohingya.
About one million Rohingya are currently living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh, most of whom fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape the military’s crimes against humanity and possible genocide.
The estimated 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State are subject to persecution and violence, confined to camps and villages without freedom of movement, and cut off from access to adequate food, health care, education, and livelihoods.
 on Wednesday requested an international arrest warrant for the military ruler of Myanmar for the persecution of Rohingya.){kind=link}